Current Challenges and Development Prospects of the National Economy of China

Abstract

China is one of the largest economies in the world, which has come a long way in the transition from a planned economy to a market economy in recent decades. This country is one of the key players in the world arena, participating in international trade, operations in the financial and investment markets. However, in recent years, the pace of economic growth in China has tended to slow down. In this regard, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the characteristics and trends of the development of the national economy of the People's Republic of China (PRC), as well as to assess its current state. The study revealed that the reforms carried out in the country and adherence to the openness policy helped the country move from focusing on domestic consumption to on focusing exports and attracting foreign investment, which became the main driver of increasing the production of goods and services and the expansion of the private sector in the country. Nevertheless, the implementation of the measures considered has led to a few problems – a crisis in the construction of residential and commercial real estate and environmental problems. These pressures are linked in the literature to rising living costs and to declining food security, both of which are associated with lower fertility, and may in the future lead to a shortage in the labour market (Dong et al., 2024; Liang, Gibson, 2017; Cai, Zhong, 2025). The implications of the study include the systemic review of the current challenges of the Chinese economic development in connection with their historic sources, the proof of the evolutionary character of the Chinese economic reforms during the researched period.